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November 2, 2020

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 498 THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS. [June 18, 1853.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 6 ambitious attempt, and I confess to prefer its author’s more modest pro­ductions—her sheep and goats, or her group of cows and sheep (No. 155) in the present show, belonging to Count de Moray. This huge canvas of the ” Paris Horse-market ” is certainly praiseworthy, and shows an artist of talent; but it is also very uninteresting, although there is spirit and life in it. There are too many grey horses for the effect of the picture; and there is a monotony in the grouping. Two large pictures by Flandin, a native of Naples, call for notice, and even for praise. One is a view of the Turkish quarter of Constantinople, taken opposite the mosques of Soliman and of the Sultana Valide. The water is good, but the atmosphere does not realise all one imagines of the golden light and dancing ether of that brilliant region. The tints are rather grey and purple. The companion picture is the “ Entrance of the Great Mosque at Ispahan: the Persians entering for Evening Prayer.” Taken upon the spot, both these views have interest. This is more than I can say for three others by a Mr. Loubon, who indulges in a most singular style of art and choice of subjects. His pictures may have merits I have been unable to discover, but I will answer for their being very ugly. One is the head of a flock of goats— the front rank of the drove—a row of black goats, staring and stepping out of the picture. Another is a “ Souvenir of Carrara,” which induces belief that M. Loubon’s souvenirs are rather misty, at least as regards the nature of the slope down which oxen are dragging an enormous block of marble. In the picture the descent appears all but perpen­dicular. A pleasanter “ View of Marseilles ” than his, and a very accu­rate one, is by Felix Ziem; and a good Provencal landscape, whose grey tints give an excellent idea of those of nature in that southernmost province of France, is a picture of the ” Valley of Ardennes,” near Toulon, by Vincent Cordouan. Cicero has a nice landscape,“ Le Soir and another,“ A Road through a Forest,” which has been purchased by the Minister of State. A very pretty farm-yard scene, natural and pleasing, is by Salmon, from whom M. Fould has also bought a picture. Bodinier—one of whose works was in the Orleans Sale this spring—here produces one in a similar style, “ The Angelus in the Plains of Rome,” with good figures in front, but with mountains in the background to which he has been rather too liberal with his ultra-marine. It is always wrong, however, in my opinion, dogmatically to criticise tints and effects of this sort, in which so much depends upon the country and aspect: how often it happens that in nature we notice some appearance of sky, earth, or water, which, had we been shown it in a picture, we should have pronounced exaggerated or unnatural. I shall say nothing of Mr. Courbet’s “ Women Bathing,” except that it is by far the most hideous and disgusting picture of the kind that I remember to have seen. Brion’s “ Sledgers in the Black Forest ” represents the plan there adopted of conveying wood in large masses down hill upon sledges, that run over bars placed across the path: this picture, like most pictures that illus­trate peculiar local customs known but to few, gets a glance from most visitors. A very good canvas, hard by it, represents an eagle making a swoop amongst wild ducks in a marsh. Of other animal pictures, per­haps the most notable are those by Verlat, of Antwerp. “A Wood­man Attacked by a Bear,” “ A Buffalo Surprised by a Tiger,” “ Two Wolves Disputing a Prey,” are the titles. The buffalo is in a very awkward fix, with his head pinned to the ground by his fierce assailant; and the woodman is not in a very safe predicament. Felling wood in the forest, a bear has suddenly come upon him, and, with open jaws and uplifted claws, is in the very act of charging him, whilst the bold logger, bran­dishing his axe, is evidently resolved to fight hard in his own defence, and in that of his young son, who looks aghast at the formidable brute.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 3 Had I to select, in the whole of this Exhibition, the three pictures, by one artist, which I feel most certain would generally please all classes of beholders, and which would form the most fitting ornament to an elegant boudoir, or dainty drawing-room, I think I should pause before Nos. 1049 to 1051, by Schlesinger, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine. There is a dash of both Leslie and Bedgrave in this artist; the lovely faces of his women reminding me particularly of the former. And, in the finish and rich effect of his brocades and satins, he approaches his countryman, Winterhalter—the ladies’ artist, par excellence. Nothing can be more charming than his “ Warranted a Likeness,” a lovely little girl seated and smiling through an oval picture frame, which encloses her head and shoulders, and is held before her by her young mother or elder sister. His “ Pearl Necklace ” is almost equally attractive—a group of charm­ing women contemplating the antics of a monkey, which, having found an open jewel-case upon his mistress’s toilet table, adorns himself with its contents. In the third and largest picture, the poet Piron is impro­vising verses to a lady, whom they excite to hearty laughter. Every­body stops before these three pictures, and smiles, and is well pleased. Another German, Knaus, of Wiesbaden, a pupil of the Dusseldorf Academy, has also contributed a most successfid picture of this class, entitled “ The Morning after a Village Festival.” The effects of the night’s debauch are visible in the aspect of all the figures, except in that of a fair-haired maiden, who mournfully supports upon her knees the head of a young fellow, her lover or brother, who is sunk in a sleep to which Rhine wine or Bavarian beer has evidently contributed. Two drunken old musicians, whom I could almost swear to have seen scores of times in Germany, have gathered up their instruments, and are about to resume their itinerant existence, interrupted by a day’s halt and feasting. One, whose glassy gaze and bloated features tell of his drouthy propensities, smokes a short pipe; the other is about to drain a glass but partly emptied by a departed guest. The morning is young, and lights still burn in the sort of kneipe or tavern where the merrymakers—now far from merry—are assembled. This is a most excellent picture, full of humour. Another, by the same artist, ” Drunken Peasants,” has a similar kind of merit; but it tells less of a story, and is consequently of inferior interest. Knaus is to Schlesinger what broad farce is to genteel comedy. Each has great merit, and the expression of the girl’s face, in Knaus’s principal picture, shows that he has feeling as well as fun. The whole character of this picture reminds me of Wilkie.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 2 Germany is in great force in this department of the Exhibition. Muller, a Wurtemburger, and pupil of Ingres, has a very nice picture, “ The Prima Donna’s Levee,” a goddess of the opera receiving the morn­ing visits of admirers and amateurs. And Gentz, a Prussian, has a good picture of an “ Egyptian School at Cairo,’’ something in the manner of Decamps. A decided imitator of this last-named artist is M. Caraud, a Frenchman, who has contributed some pretty but oddly-coloured Algerine subjects—“ A Woman Teazing a Parrot,” and an “ Interior of a Moorish House.” While in Algeria, I must mention a picture by Leleux,

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 Cattle Treading-out Corn in North Africa,” which has the same sort of interest possessed by the ” Wood-sledgers in the Black Forest,” already spoken of.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 2 Belgium and Holland are not behind-hand here. ” The New Market at Amsterdam during a Kermesse or Festival,” is by Van Schendel, a Dutch painter, who has frequently exhibited at Paris, and who obtained a gold medal in 1847, with Schlesinger. Night scenes are Van Schen- del’s forte ; and he is remarkable for his curious effects of light, and for his extremely high finish. This market piece is worked up like a minia­ture ; and the lights, thrown by paper lanterns upon the faces of the stall-keepers, are cleverly disposed, and of very natural effect. Hard by, in the catalogue, is another gentleman of Flemish patronymic, Van Moer, a Brussels artist, who contributes three interiors of no great interest, and of an unpleasing colour; but one of which, a studio, exhibits a capital effect of sun-light through a window. The two Stevenses, of Brussels, one of whom (Joseph) got a medal here last year, have five pictures be­tween them. Two of the three, by Alfred Stevens—“ Ash Wednesday Morn­ing ” (masqueraders going home after the revels of the Carnival), and “Burgesses Finding at Daybreak the Corpse of a Nobleman of the Court Assassinated by the Guisards,” are spirited and interesting.

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 After noticing all these foreigners, it is but fair to turn to the French; amongst whom, however, I do not find much to notice in the way of genre pictures. Some good things may have escaped me, but certainly not many; and I have marked but few of this class, by French painters, combining in any great degree merit of subject and satisfactory execu­tion. Jacquand’s “ Amende Honorable” (a monk in a convent of Cheva­lier Brothers, Hermits of St. Maurice, kneeling before his Superior, and humbling himself for an offence committed) has the usual faults and beauties of that artist. It is unquestionably a fine picture: the colour­ing judicious; the expression of some of the faces—especially of that of the Superior—exceedingly good : in short, it is the work of a clever artist, long known and esteemed as such. But it has the fault of which he seems to have such difficulty of getting rid. It is as hard as polished steel. His townsman, Meissonnier, has three of his charming little pictures, which everybody likes, but which afford small scope for de- scription. Comte Calix, also a Lyonnese—a painter of inferior standing to the two just named, but who is very well known in Paris, where many of his pictures and sketches have been engraved—has sent, besides a portrait of a lady, two pictures, entitled “ Fortune and Happiness,” and “ As one makes one’s bed, so does one lie upon it.” The subject of neither is very intelligible. In the first-named, the countenances and attitudes of a young man and woman, the two prin-  cipal figures, might induce one to think the artist had been attempting to imitate Frank Stone; and in some of his former pictures I have a fine performance. J. B. Aylmer has a good picture of the “ Forum at Rome;” and S. Read a view of Walmer Castle, taken in September last, just at the moment before sunset; the flag still half- mast high, denoting the resting-place of England’s greatest hero. There is a great deal of skilful treatment in this little picture, and a nice senti­ment pervading it.

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 3 fancied I discovered that tendency. If this be the case, the imitation is still leagues off from his model. M. Compte Calix has, however, certain merits of his own. He paints very pretty female faces, and is skilful in varying their expression—a talent not always found in painters who deal largely in female beauty. As to his bed-making picture, more may be meant by it than meets the eye, but what is meant I have not yet been able to discover. A heap of mattresses, a very pretty woman, with a fantastical head-dress (that of some remote French province), another woman admiring her, a lap-dog upon a trailing blanket -such is the composition, which, although puzzling, is pleasing enough to look at, and will, doubtless, soon be in the print-shops. Another pretty little picture, by Hillemacher, is “Vert-Vert,” Grisset’s renowned parrot, going upon his travels, and gossiping as he goes. He is on board a boat, and the amused passengers gather around him. If I wished to find a foil to all these pleasant pictures, I could hardly better select than by taking Tassaert’s “ The Old Musician,” a poor, desponding old man, sitting in his room with a pan of lighted charcoal, awaiting death by suffocation. Although I have, as yet, confined myself to oil-paintings, I will here include an aquarelle by the well-known Eugene Lami, entitled “An Orgie”—a sort of Belshazzar’s Feast in the days of the fifteenth Louis—a sumptuously-spread board, surrounded by revellers of both sexes, laughing, drinking, singing, and love-making. In a lurid gleam in one corner of the picture the demons of discord are seen in the air, and the ominous figures, “ 1793,” address to the reckless and licentious crew a warning unheeded until too late.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 4 There are some very fine portraits in this Exhibition. Of that of the Empress I have already spoken, and I maintain my good opinion of it, which is that of the majority; although, since my last letter, I have heard it attacked on account of the somewhat melancholy expression, and of a certain tearfulness in the eyes. There may be some slight grounds for the latter objection, although it appears to me rather strained; but, as to the expression, I persist in saying that it is the one natural to a lady when her features are in repose. The Emperor’s portrait displeases everybody, and is very unflattering to him. For after all, and although caricaturists have done their utmost to make a monster of him, he is neither an ugly nor a disagreeable-looking man, although his expression is cold, inscrutable, and somewhat stern. His grand huntsman, Marshal Magnan, hangs nearly opposite to him, painted by Lariviere. Very near to the Emperor, on his right, rather higher up, is a life-size portrait of the present Queen of Spain, by Le- paulle, the same who painted Napoleon III. Queen Isabella is not a person of whom one has seen many portraits that could be at all re­lied upon; but this one has every appearance of being a likeness, although perhaps as unflattering a one as that of the Emperor, which still has a resemblance. Her Majesty has a snub nose, a sodden com­plexion, coarse features, a very sensual expression, and looks ten years older than her real age. Still, from what is known of her tastes, habits, and appearance, there is little reason for supposing that this portrait is untrue to nature—the less reason, that it coincides very much with a miniature of her, to which I shall presently get. A very good like­ness, but a very hard picture (painted at Brompton by Mottez), is that of M. Guizot. Its expression, too, is severer, and has less of bonhommie than that usual to this statesman. It is a portrait taken under one of his less favourable aspects—when he is engrossed by business rather than in the relaxation of social intercourse. Here is the Pope, Pio Nono, painted for the Minister of State, by Court, an artist of whom prodigious expectations were once entertained, and who has done some very fine things; but who of late years has declined in public favour, and rather disappointed his admirers. This, however, is certainly a fine picture, carefully done—what may be styled a good comely portrait— not displaying any extraordinary genius. A Pope, in his pontifical splendour, hardly affords much opportunity for such display. Abd-el- Kader I should take to be a more tempting subject for an artist; and, accordingly, here we find the Emir, bearded and burnoused, a full-length portrait and a good likeness, by Tissier, a pupil of Scheffer and Dela- roche, who has also painted General Count Goyon, the Emperor’s Aide- de-Camp. Amongst theatrical portraits, the most noticeable is one of Rachel, by Mrs. O’Connell, a German by birth, notwithstanding her Hibernian name. This is a very fair likeness of Rachel, as times go. The great tragedian is, I have no doubt, extremely difficult to paint— owing, perhaps, to her mobility of feature—for, out of the innumerable portraits I have seen of her, not one satisfied me as a perfect likeness. Some resemble her as she appears in particular characters; but of Rachel herself, as she looks when off the stage, I am unacquainted with an exact likeness. The artists always miss some point or other of her physiognomy. Also, by Mrs. O’Connell, is the portrait of an extremely smug little gentleman, with a small white hand, an insinuating counte­nance, and a whole cluster of crosses at his button-hole. This is M. Romieu, late Director of the Beaux-Arts. Dubufe has two charming portraits of ladies, besides that of the Empress; and every one, I am sure, will gaze long and admiringly on the sweet countenance which hangs on the left of Winterhalter’s Florinda.

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 1 A walk through the Miniature-room will conclude this letter. Minia­ture, like landscape, is a style in which the French are beaten out of the field by the English. Nevertheless, there are a few excellent French miniature-painters, even now that Madame de Mirbel, long the most celebrated amongst them, has left the scene. It appears to me that there are fewer miniatures than usual this year, and, indeed, more than one instance has come to my knowledge of exclusions of that class of portrait. Amongst the most remarkable exhibited are those of Madame Herbelin, who has sent, with two miniatures of ladies unknown, one of Isabey, the painter, now an extremely old man. Pommayrac, a native of the Spanish colony of Porto Rico, and a pupil of Madame de Mirbel, has obtained three rather interesting sitters—the Princess Mathilde, Queen Isabella, and the infant Princess of the Asturias. He is a nice miniature-painter, but is deficient in vigour. Maxime David, another of Madame de Mirbel’s pupils, has three miniatures of Abd-el-Kader, under three different aspects—two profiles and a front face; inscribed below, “ At Prayers,” “ The Sultan,” “ In Battle.” The idea is quaint; but the varieties of expression are well defined, without exaggeration. I miss the charming miniatures usually contributed by Gaye, one of the most esteemed painters of this class in Paris, who exhibited, last year, an extraordinarily beautiful miniature-copy of Correggio’s celebrated “ Marriage of St. Catherine.” It was a masterpiece of its kind, and a work of singular patience and high finish. The painter’s absence from this year’s Exhibition is understood to arise from his having been long engaged on a similar copy of Ary Scheffer’s beautiful picture of “ Fran­cesca di Rimini,” sold, a short time since, at the auction of the late Duke of Orleans’ Collection, and the engraving of which is well known in England.

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION.—THE MINIATURES

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 AND DRAWINGS.

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 1 The rooms appropriated to miniatures and drawings will repay inspec­tion, after the works of higher pretensions in the oil-colour line have been thoroughly reviewed. In miniatures, Thorburn and Sir W. Ross take precedence of all competitors, their respective merits being in the order in which we have named them. To the nicest delicacy of execu­tion which we find in both these artists, Thorburn adds a grace and sentiment amounting almost to the poetic—worthy of a higher walk of art. His portrait of Lady Constance Grosvenor (738), the Countess of Airlie (790), and Mrs. Knatchbull (836), are especially beautiful. The group of the Hon. Mrs. Sidney Herbert and two of her children (825) is a perfect picture. Sir W. Ross is very successful in the portraits of Mrs. and Miss B. Cresswell (737 and 740), and Mrs. Lewis (777), and in the group of Lady Arthur Hervey and Children (753). C. Durham exhibits great painstaking, and a good appreciation of colour in some of his miniatures: that entitled “ The Student ” (664) and another of a Young Lady (689) being favourable examples of his talent. T. J. Gullick is successful in hitting off a likeness, ex gr. his “ Sir Harry G. W. Smith” (674) and “ Sir Fitzroy Kelly” (704).

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 Amongst other successful hands in this line, we remark S. B. Godbold, who exhibits four miniature and three water-colour portraits, all character­ised by very good taste and undeniable power of execution: amongst the water-colour subjects is the “ Portrait of a Lady ” (982), very charming in expression; and “ Portrait of Alexander Collier, son of the late Six Francis Collier,” in a midshipman’s uniform, a very genuine perform­ance. H. Weigall, jun., amongst other exhibits, has a drawing of the late Duke of Wellington (912), taken from sittings given in 1851. Mr. V. Bartholomew exhibits a clever portrait of “ Miss Glyn,” in the character of Cleopatra. J. Lawrence produces chalk portraits with a firm free hand of which that of Professor W. Bowman, of King’s College (783), is a creditable  example.

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 Amongst the subject pieces in this line few are worthy of notice G. Jones, R.A., has two very spirited sketches; one of “ Elijah on Mount Horeb” (915), and the other illustrative of the passage in Daniel vii. 2, “ And behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.” Mr. Dyce’s large cartoon of “St. Peter” (931] intended for one of the frescoes to be painted in All Saints’ Church St. Marylebone, though rather hard in outline, is, upon the whole

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 In the Architectural Room are two block models exhibited by Sir C. Barry; one (1050) of the design of the New Crystal Palace, as now in course of erection, on the summit of Sydenham hill. The other (1051) illustrative of suggestions offered to the directors of the Crystal Palace Company, for modifications of the design of the New Crystal Palace, having for their object to enhance the effect of the interior, and to vary the outline of the exterior, so as to harmonise the principles of the design with the materials and construction employed. The central dome is shown to be 120 feet in diameter, and 365 feet high to the top of the terminal on the lantern, or twenty feet wider and five feet higher than the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The effect of the latter is cer­tainly grand and imposing; but, probably the cost would be such as to deter the directors from its adoption. Mr. M. D. Wyatt exhibits (1139) a sketch for the arrangement of the interior of the Pompeian Rooms, now constructing in the New Crystal Palace, which will serve to give an idea of the various attractive features providing for the enjoyment of the public by the directors.

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 Mr. Martin’s New Picture of “ The Last Judgment.”

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 Mr. Martin, the painter of “ Belshazzar’s Feast,” “ The Deluge,” “ The Fall of Nineveh,” and other fine historical pictures, has just pro­duced a work upon a more ambitious subject than any which he has hitherto attempted—a subject which long ago had put to the severest test the genius of a Michael Angelo, namely, that of “ The Last Judg­ment.”

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 1 Mr. Martin has treated his subject upon a very opposite principle to that observed in the grand fresco of Michael Angelo. He is not abstract and ideal, as the great Italian was; but seeks to realise literatim all the miraculous manifestations predicted, in reference to the Day of Judgment, in the various passages of Scripture; beginning from the Prophets, down to the Revelations. Thus, at the top of the picture, is pretended to be represented the Supreme Being—the glory emanating from whom illumines the whole of the heavenly scene; underneath, the Son of Man, with the Book of Life open; and, on either side, the Angel whose closed book contains the record of the actions of those upon whom judgment has been passed, and the Angel who reads the records of the actions of the just, who are being judged from the Book of Life. In front of these, the four-and-twenty Elders, in two rows; and, at their various posts, the Archangel, the Angels sounding the Last Trumpet to the four quarters of the earth, and the Avenging Angel hurling the bolts and fires from Heaven. On the left, in the dis­tance, is the Celestial City, and the plains of Heaven, with the lakes and rivers of bliss; and the bowers of Heaven, into which are entering those saints who have received the white robes. Beneath is the holy city of Jerusalem, with processions of saints, martyrs, and worthies of various denominations—philanthropists, patriots, astronomers, poets, painters, &c.; several of which classes are represented by portraits of well-known characters. On the opposite side of the picture are the armies of Gog and Magog, “ whose number is as the sand of the sea;” and, in the midst, the Valley of Jehosophat, which has been riven by the earthquake from end to end, thus separating the blessed from the accursed; and the “ terminus to the railway (!) by which are arriving the succours to the enemies of Christendom, who are besieging the Holy City. The earthquake having rent the valley in twain, the foremost train and the van of the hosts of Gog and Magog are impelled headlong down the yawning abyss.” We here quote the words of the printed account; and have to add that they are strictly and simply descriptive, the train and cars of a railway of the ordinary make and shape being literally depicted; such is the latitude which the artist has allowed his fancy, we fear to the serious disparagement of the grander aspirations with which he set about designing his picture. In the foreground on the right are groups of accursed lawyers, Scribes, Pharisees, and other offenders against morality and Christian precepts, prostrate, and gnashing their teeth in torments. We have thus faintly described the mul­tifarious contents of this picture—which, with many unquestionable errors of judgment in its treatment, displays a great deal of admirable power of execution—producing those wondrous and startling effects which have distinguished all the artist’s former productions. It is at present on view at Mr. M‘Lean’s, in the Haymarket; by whom an engraving of it will shortly be published.

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 1 Mr. Bailey’s Marble Bust of the Queen.

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 2 Mr. John Bailey, a young artist, has lately produced a marble bust o her Majesty, which is now on view at Mr. Hogarth’s, in the Haymarket. Although we believe the artist has not had the advantage of a sitting, the likeness is indisputable; and there is at the same time noble ideality thrown into the character, which elevates it far above ordinary works of portraiture. The treatment, also, is tasteful and pleasing: the head is adorned with flowers, and at the back is a veil, which falls over the shoulders—the latter a hazardous attempt, but successfully carried out— the effect being that of lightness, in spite of the material. Upon the whole, the work is one which does great credit to the producer, and holds out fair promise for his future career.

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 The Village Pastor. By W. P. Frith, R.A. Engraved by W. Holl.

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 Messrs. Lloyd Brothers and Co. have just published a very fine en­graving by Holl, of Frith’s “ Village Pastor,” an admirable picture, full of life, and nature, and fine feeling; and, though soberer in character, well worthy to hang up as a companion to his “ Old English Merry Making,” which has become so widely known by the engravings of it issued by the London Art Union. This truly English painter has adopted the theme of one of the most truly English poets (need we mention the name of Oliver Goldsmith?) for his subject, and has charmingly realised the happy scene suggested by the following lines:—

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 The service past, around the pious man, With ready zeal, each honest rustic ran; E’en children followed, with endearing wile, And pluckt his gown to share the good man’s smile.

¶ 25 Leave a comment on paragraph 25 1 The scene is in the churchyard of a rural parish, after morning service. The benevolent pastor of course forms the centre figure in the picture; around him are various groups of old and young, who seem to look up to him as the “ common friend ” and “ oracle ” of the whole village, and who variously manifest their feelings of re­spect, love, and admiration for his character and position. Old and young, the faces are all instinct with life, and full of cha­racter; the children especially being extremely happily treated. The general character of the subject is sunny and cheerful; but a touch­ing little episode is introduced, which gives a sober tone to the ensemble, and sends the spectator from the scene with a whispered recollection that “ in the midst of life we are in death.” An aged mother, a widow, with an only daughter, upon whose thin features the mark of the de­stroyer is already placed, has yielded to the entreaties of the latter, and has brought her to church to hear the village pastor, in all pro­bability, for the last time. The heat of the church has been too much for the feeble frame of the latter, and mother and daughter are resting upon a tombstone, to watch the pastor on his way from the church. The sentiment thrown into this little group is of the purest and most touch­ing kind.

¶ 26 Leave a comment on paragraph 26 0 The engraving has been executed with admirable breadth and free­dom, and at the same time with extreme minuteness of detail. It measures 36 in. by 28 1/2 in.

¶ 27 Leave a comment on paragraph 27 0 THE “ CUPID AND DOLPHIN,” IN THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION.

¶ 28 Leave a comment on paragraph 28 0 (To the Editor of the Illustrated London News.)

¶ 29 Leave a comment on paragraph 29 0 The Athenaeum, June 11,1853.

¶ 30 Leave a comment on paragraph 30 0 Your correspondent, Mr. Donaldson, appears to have misapprehended the subject of the “ Wounded Boy and Dolphin,” by Raphael, now ex­hibited at Dublin. It appears from M. Passavant’s “Lire of Raphael,” that the story is taken from Ӕlian; and, indeed, it was so stated by the President of the Royal Academy at the opening dinner this year. Ӕlian, amongst other stories of the affection borne by dolphins to the human race, tells one of a boy of Iasus, who was on terms of great friendship with a dolphin, which would carry him out to sea on his back. The boy one day wounded himself morally with the dorsal spines of the fish, and the faithful dolphin carried him to shore and expired at his side. The people of the city erected a monument, and struck coins to commemorate the circumstance. This is, doubtless, the particular incident which Raphael had in view. It appears that there is a cast of the statue at Dresden. The original, which is mentioned in a letter of the time, was traced to M. de Breteuil, about 1768, and was supposed to have been since , lost. I should be glad if any of your readers would furnish the sub­sequent history and pedigree of this interesting group. ,          

¶ 31 Leave a comment on paragraph 31 0 I am, &c., ∆.